College Football: Mountaineers make a statement

Back when West Virginia decided on a move from the Big East to the Big 12 a little more than a year ago, there were Big 12 pundits who scoffed.

They are not doubting the Mountaineers any more.

West Virginia stated its case Saturday, out-dueling Texas, 48-45, to move into first place in the Big 12 and prove that its initial win in the conference - a 70-63 win over Baylor - was no idle gesture. A victory over last season's darling Baylor is one thing, but a win against traditional power Texas is a statement.

The Mountaineers, who feature their best unit since Major Harris took them to within a game of the national title in 1988, are for real, not just in the chase for the Big 12 championship, but the national title as well.

West Virginia, with Heisman Trophy candidate Geno Smith, looks more than capable of running the table and finding its way into the Bowl Championship Series picture, especially after a Saturday night massacre that took down Louisiana State, Georgia and Florida State.

The key is Smith, who with the season not quite halfway done has already thrown for 1,996 yards and 24 touchdowns. The Mountaineers are averaging 52 points a game and have scored 70 points once, at least 60 twice and 40 or more in four of their five games.

The knock on West Virginia is its defense, which has yielded 105 points the past two weekends. One college football pundit said Saturday - before the Mountaineers beat Texas - that West Virginia would never be a national contender with a defense that allows 63 points.

I always thought it was about wins, and there's no doubt the Mountaineers win, and will likely be favored in most of their final seven games, perhaps even in Big 12 showdowns against No. 6 Kansas State on Oct. 20 and No. 13 Oklahoma on Nov. 10.

"We play as a team, we fight as a team," Smith told the Associated Press on Saturday. "No matter what it takes to win the game, that's what we're going to do."

There's no doubt to continue to win, you must be able to stop the opposition. But does West Virginia suddenly have to develop an Alabama-type defense?

Not exactly.

Sometimes you can play defense with your offense as well. I think of the Peyton Manning-led Indianapolis Colts, who annually put up big scoring numbers and 12-win seasons by doing just that.

The Colts, like the Mountaineers, were like a race horse who gets the lead early and can't be caught. West Virginia is so well-tuned offensively that it puts added pressure on its opponents to keep up. Eventually, they tap out, like Baylor did two weeks ago, and Texas on Saturday.

It's all about wins, and the way the schedule is shaping up, with the meetings against Kansas State and Oklahoma both in Morgantown, you can expect the Mountaineers to make a BCS run.

Of course, Florida State, whose schedule was supposed to be the easiest of any team in the top 10, thought the same before last weekend.

Here's this week's top five for the races for the BCS title and the 99th Rose Bowl Game:

BCS TOP FIVE

1. Alabama (5-0) - The Tide, who are at Missouri this week, picked the perfect weekend to take a bye, surviving the carnage that took down the previous Nos. 3, 4 and 5-ranked teams. If anything, it's made Alabama's road to a repeat a bit more easier.

2. Oregon (6-0) - There seems to no stopping the Green Machine, which routed Washington, 52-21. Oregon now has scored 50 points in four of its six games.

3. South Carolina (6-0) - The Gamecocks, after routing previous No. 5 Georgia, aren't the other USC anymore. South Carolina features one of the better offenses in the SEC, and its defense isn't too shabby either.

4. West Virginia (5-0) - Geno and Co. took down the Eyes of Texas. Texas Tech, you're next.

5. Florida (5-0) - The Gators are back in the BCS picture after shutting down LSU, 14-6. But they'll need to beat No. 5 South Carolina and No. 14 Georgia in back-to-back weekends to stay there.

1. Oregon (6-0, 3-0 in Pac-12) - The Ducks continue to look like the Pac-12's best. But USC looms.

2. USC (4-1, 2-1) - The Trojans have fought back from the upset loss at Stanford, with back-to-back wins over Cal and Utah. Washington is up next on the docket.

3. Oregon State (4-0, 3-0) - The Beavers are ranked No. 10 by AP, their highest ranking this late in the season since 2001. A college football expert said this week that the road to the Pac-12 title runs through the state of Oregon. I'm starting to believe.

4. Michigan State (4-2, 1-1 in Big Ten) - The Spartans, who beat Indiana, continue to look like the Big Ten's best. But again, that's not saying much.

5. Arizona State (4-1, 2-0) - First-year coach Todd Graham has the Sun Devils atop the Pac-12 South. But for how long?